All People Matter

There is a terrible refugee crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I’m not well informed about this nation, but I do have this forum to help make the issue more well- known.

Our problems here at home are real and important, yet we are often blind the needs of problems of our brothers and sisters elsewhere in the world.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, refugee camps have been burned and the people who lived in these camps have been cast adrift. As many as 50,000 people may have lived in these camps. In addition, 250,000 people in the D.R.C are fleeing fighting between the government and rebels.

“For years, fighting has been fuelled by the country’s vast mineral wealth. DR Congo is about the size of western Europe, but with no road or rail links from one side of the country to the other. That makes it easy for all sides in a conflict to take advantage of any disorder and plunder natural resources. A five-year war – sometimes termed “Africa’s world war” as it drew in Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rwanda – ended in 2003 with the formation of a transitional government and subsequent elections. But unrest has continued in the unruly east of the country and, as a result, some armed groups have refused to disarm or join the national army.”

I don’t know much about Ms. Maldonado or the area she hopes to represent.

I can only process so much in life.

However, I feel confident that the people who made the endorsement knew what they were doing. Please click here to read about the TexBlog PAC Board of Directors

The bottom line, for me at least, is not the specifics of 150 House races. That would put me to sleep. The point is that a Democratic majority in the Texas House would make Texas a better place to live.

Gaining five seats would give Democrats a majority in Austin.

Previous House majorities in Texas, both Republican and Democrat, have, at best, leaned to the right.

Demographic changes in Texas, and the view now held by many that Republicans have failed Texas and the nation, make 2008 and beyond the right time for a new course.

TexBlog PAC has two main goals.

An immediate focus is to help elect a Democratic majority in the Texas House of Representatives.

A more longterm goal is to help establish blogs as a relevant force in Texas politics.

When candidates can raise money through direct internet appeals and organize on-line with Facebook pages, why have blogs as the middle person?

For one thing, blogs have the ablilty to focus attention on unkown and lesser known candidates and causes.

For another thing, someone running a blog, is someone who might be willing to take the time and energy needed to help elect liberals and progressives to public office.

There is a value to independence and there is value to organization. It takes all kinds to make something work.

Texas bloggers have a real opportunity in 2008.

Now is the time—well, really earlier was the time, but the moment has not passed—for Texas liberal and progressive bloggers to work together to continue to establish themselves as meaningful in Texas politics.

Fighting about the Clinton/Obama race serves no purpose.

It is excellent that blogs such as the one you reading right now, Houston’s There….Already , Amarillo’s Jobsanger, and the very good new blog The Old Eighteen from the Dallas area, are ready to help lead the way to a great 2008.

The features that made the stricken area vulnerable to this disaster — its low-lying geography and proximity to water — also made it Burma’s rice bowl. The cyclone has undoubtedly wrought terrible damage on the country’s agriculture. World rice prices are at a record high already, provoking food riots in more than 30 countries. Burma is a net exporter of rice, and the destruction of crops in the Irrawaddy delta will only add to upward pressure on international prices. The country may be unable to keep its promise to sell rice to other needy countries such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

This is all fine by me. It is not hurting anybody. Sometimes I’m a bit envious of people who feel they see these things. I don’t believe in any miracles. Maybe life is easier if you do. In any case, I’m not judgemental about this stuff. People are just trying to get by.